Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As of this past Sunday, the Bishop has given permission to churches in our Diocese to begin celebrating Holy Communion under the following guidelines:
1. Communion can only be celebrated outside the building in the church yard or some other approved place.
2. It can only be administered in one kind -- the Bread. A small amount of wine is permitted to be placed in the chalice and consumed by the Rector, but no one else is to receive wine from the chalice.
3. Everyone must wear masks throughout the service. At the time of Communion you may come forward to receive the Host, take your mask off quickly at a designated spot (I'll point that out at the service) and place it in your mouth, and then put your mask back in place.
4. The Peace will be shared only by word and wave. There will be no handshaking or hugging as a sign of the Peace.
5. On top of this, as the Celebrant, I have a number of directions about wearing a mask while celebrating at the Table and making sure to sanitize my hands several times prior to the administration of Communion, which I will be following.
Noting these things, I have written to the Bishop to ask for permission to celebrate Communion at our outdoor service on October 4th. All of the requirements that were laid out for that service are still in place. You are responsible for bringing your own chairs and Prayer Books or printed booklets.
In an effort to maintain distancing, there will be no Procession or Recession, no acolytes, and no processing of the Offertory or Gospel. There will also be no Prayer Corner ministry.
The Vestry will be checking your temperatures as you come to church and I have been instructed to keep a list of names of all in attendance. Should an outbreak occur, I may need to report that for contact tracing.
If you are interested in attending, please let me know. If you sign up, please note that you are agreeing to abide by all the requirements.
If this proves doable, we will look to have another Communion service once or twice more in the Fall, perhaps at a different time to make it accessible for more of you who wish to attend.
Let me know if you have any questions and don't forget to RSVP. Thanks!
Yours in Christ,
Kyle+